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10 December 2010

The Family Papers of Rosalie Meyer Stern

In a prior post on this blog, some of the records held at the Judah L. Magnes Museum were discussed. Many of the records are family papers preserved within the collection. One of these, the papers of Rosalie Meyer Stern gives an incredible account of life in San Francisco, during the earthquake of 1906.

Rosalie was born on 21 Apr 1869 in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Eugene Meyer and his wife Harriet Newmark. The Meyer's were an old established Jewish family. Eugene's sister Ernastine was married to Zadok- Kahn, Grand Rabbi of France. In 1892, Rosalie married Sigmund Stern. They had a daughter, Elise Fanny who married Walter Haas, who became Chairman of his families business, Levi Strauss.

In her papers she begins by relating her experiences of the leading up to the earthquake, she writes; "On the evening of April 17, 1906, Mr. Stern and I had been attending the opera. It was the second night of a season of two or three weeks of opera to be given by the Metropolitan Opera Company, and they were presenting Carmen. Since we had been to the opera on the night before and were rather tired, we left before the end of the performance.I have a vivid recollection of Caruso on the stage. At 5:14 in the morning when we were so suddenly awakened by the earthquake, my opera clothes were still strewn on the chairs in my room."

In further pages, she talks about the fears of her home being on fire and of not being able to contact family and friends, she also describes moments which bring humor to an otherwise scary time. She talks about she and her waitress Katherine, finding her maid Delia in her room. She writes; "Delia was a good catholic, as also was Katherine. Katherine opened the door and found Delia on her knees in the hall, industriously sprinkling herself with holy water, she was crying I'm gone, I'm gone."

She tells the stories of the people of San Fransico, how they managed to survive. She tells of the ladies wearing their finest furs and jewels even in the heat of the day. One story though shows the greatness of people. She recounts how people kept stopping by the home, to give updates on damages and fires. Some were updated them on the condition of their businesses when word was received that one building they owned was burning down. At this time the family chauffeur, Swain, asked for permission to borrow the limousine so he could go to his apartment and retrieve his clothes, gain she writes; " We allowed him to do so, and consequently he saved his belongings and the $150 he had in his room. This last sum he handed to Mr. Stern to use as was needed." It just shows that in time of need there are always those who are willing to help.

The most telling item about the family papers to me is the fact that after telling her account of everything going on, of the losses to property, and the concerns about life itself, she then tells the stories of her and her husbands own families. She documents to anyone who may read it in the future, who she was and where she came from. Families are what is most important.

The family papers of Rosalie Meyer Stern are available on microfilm at the Family History Library (FHL film #1031330 item 1).

The records of the Stern family are now being added to theKnowles Collection- Jews of the Americas.

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Why the Knowles Collection?

From an early age I have been trying to find as much information as I could about my gggrandfather, Morris DavidRosenbaum, a Polish Jew. In my search and through my work as a Reference Consultant in the British Research unit at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, I have compiled records of The Jewish people. This collection, linking Jewish families, is available free to all. Hopefully, people will come together to share the stories of their own families.

Size of the databases (1 Dec 2017)

Jews of British Isles 228,403Jews of Europe473721Jews of North America632198Jews of South America and Caribbean21,844Jews of Africa & Orient43686Jews of South Pacific21,684

Total 1,421,114

Growth and Change

In the 7 years since the Knowles Collection was first published, the numbers have climbed from just over 7,500 to over 1,383,000as of January of 2017. So many of our ancestors left their native lands for new homes. Because of that movement the collection will now be in 6 different databases. All of them will be under the Knowles Collection umbrella. They are Jewsof The British Isles; Jews of the North America; Jews of Europe; Jews of South America and the Caribbean; and Jews of Africa and the Orient and the newest one, Jews of the Southern Pacific.. This is a great indication of how universal our families are, and of how much still needs to be done.

IAJGS

IAJGS Local Societies.

The best way to start your family history research is to join your local Jewish Genealogical Society. This link will take you to the current list of societies , and will help you find the one closest to you.